What are you doing New Year’s Eve?

Knitting Factory News

Welcome to Knitting Factory News, our intermittent (let’s say, twice monthly or fortnightly) bulletin of highlights from inside and outside the Knitting Factory universe. It’s an opinionated guide to featured artists at our California venues, KFE-managed artists on tour, giveaways, ephemera, and…well, things we like, no matter where they came from. This issue is all about parties as we’re diving deep into the holiday season and embracing the New Year.

Earlier this week, psychedelic pop artist Dent May released a video for his catchy holiday tune, “I’ll Be Stoned For Christmas,” which that tells that all too familiar tale of going back to your hometown and being a bored misfit.

The story follows a former Hollywood It Girl named Cherry who visits her humdrum hometown during Christmas. She wanders around alone and has awkward encounters with old friends, so gets high in order to help her through the whole experience. Check it out here.

Featured Holiday Events

If you’re in LA, there are plenty of exciting parties over the course of the next week! With singles mixers, funk music and dancing with tater tots, there’s no need to be alone and stoned for Christmas.

Thursday, December 24MatzoBall Jewish Singles Party- The Room Hollywood
This Christmas Eve, The Room Hollywood will host MatzoBall, the nation’s leading Jewish singles event. With almost three decades of experience, MatzoBall sets the stage for the ultimate party experience. Experience what USA Today calls “The Nation’s No. 1 Holiday Party!”

Saturday, December 26All Scene Eye presents the Post-Holiday Funk Fest – The Lost Knight
Boogie down at the Post-Holiday Funk Fest this Saturday night! Starring your favorite funky aliens the Solar Sons laying down that jazzedelic space groove. Featuring the spaced out sounds of the multi-dimensional Galactic Flo, the hip hop poetics of the infamous B-Hurd, and the groovy rock & roll vibrations of the Norman Woods Group! It’s a family affair and it’s going to be an epic night so come get spaced out and move and groove with us!

Monday, December 28Dive In Theatre Presents 200 Cigarettes – Skybar
Every Monday, Skybar hosts their Dive In Theater at the pool. This week’s flick is the 90s ensemble comedy 200 Cigarettes, which follows an array of characters in New York City on New Year’s Eve 1981. Among the numerous characters looking for love and fun are Paul Rudd, Courtney Love, Gaby Hoffmann and Christina Ricci. The film also features a pensive bartender (Ben Affleck) and a taxi driver (Dave Chappelle) who operates a disco in his cab.

Los Angeles Neighborhood Guide to NYE

Welcome to our Los Angeles neighborhood guide to New Year’s Eve. Ring in the New Year with our top picks for parties, ranging from free rock shows to extravagant masquerade balls.

AGOURA HILLSX at the Canyon Club. We know we can’t stop talking about them, but here we are. Remember, every opportunity to see X supports Billy Zoom.

BEVERLY HILLSSpanish Masquerade – The Bazaar
2016 marks the 5th annual New Year’s Eve “Spanish Masquerade” at The Bazaar by José Andrés. Incognito guests will enjoy multiple dining areas and tray-passed tapas by the James Beard award-winning chef. There will be no shortage of libations. Sip on cava and wine or choose your favorite specialty drink at several cocktail stations throughout the night. VIP guests will enjoy “Bubbles the Bazaar Way” all night long. Experience superstition meets tradition with the ceremonial 12 grapes at midnight. In true Spanish fashion, guests will indulge in one grape for each lucky month ahead at the stroke of midnight. Cap the night off with desserts in the Patisserie and then dance into 2016 with live music, traditional flamenco performances, and a DJ.

DOWNTOWN LARhondapolis with Felix Da Housecat, DJ Harvey, XXXY & more – The Standard
Rhondapolis is an immersive NYE extravaganza that transforms the Standard, Downtown LA into a building-wide celebration of the fantastic year past and the fabulous year to come. Witness this all-encompassing transformation of the entire high-rise, from the lobby to the rooftop pool. The party features four custom discotheques, each packed with world class selectors, the attendees all become a living part of the metropolis, taking over not only the communal spaces but also all of the hotel’s 207 rooms, which can only be reserved by Rhonda revelers, making the entire property the domain of the citizens of Rhondapolis.

Prohibition NYE with Le Youth – Union Station
Arguably downtown Los Angeles’ most recognizable landmark, Union Station will once again come to life with the excitement and glamor of the Roaring Twenties. After a third consecutive sell out, Prohibition NYE has expanded into the majestic Ticket Concourse at this classic venue. Be prepared for a memorable evening of DJs, live jazz music, burlesque dancers, tray passed oysters, and a premium open bar to satisfy all of the senses. Headlining act Le Youth’s tracks are guaranteed to light up the dance floor.

New Year’s Eve Party – The Association
Experience classic elegance at The Association, featuring music by DJ Waldo. Located in the historic Bank District, The Association is a low-key, NYC-style lounge, offering classic cocktails in a warm and inviting ambiance. Shielded on the subterranean level of the Pacific Electric Lofts building, The Association’s exterior is simply represented by its unique black door with a brass lion head knocker.

NYE Ball – The Continental Club
Ring in the New Year with style at one of Downtown LA’s most iconic speakeasy venues, as The Continental Club presents their New Year’s Eve Ball. This formal affair features music by DJ Wyatt Case. Established in 2013 and open February 2014, The Continental Club is a concept by Ashley Joyce designed by herself and partner John Lasker. The concept aims to cater to the vibrant and diverse downtown LA community, while the design is based on a traditional London members’ club contrasted with modern, anti-establishment accents. The Continental Club’s attention to detail and exceptional service is reminiscent of the Las Vegas, London and Havana clubs of the 1950s and 1960s.

ECHO PARKAll Scene Eye & Dirty Laundry TV present Festival for the Lost Year New Years Eve Blowout! – The Lost Knight
On New Years Eve you want to crawl madly forth from 2015, surrounded by some of your favorite bands in the birth canal of an east side extravaganza music show, your newly formed infantile body drenched in champagne as you squeeze through the year ending womb door with Kim and the Created and explode forcefully all over the lost room walls in an orgiastic celebration of renewal… as we do away with the old man of 2015 and beget the cherubic infant of 2016 with Crown Plaza and Avi Buffalo and every single one else in a curated ensemble of musicanship!

HOLLYWOODNYE featuring Chris Malinchak – LA Mother
New Hollywood event space LA Mother which will be transformed into a lavish indoor and covered outdoor wonderland that will tantalize and stir the senses. This elegant occasion will be the first of its kind at LA Mother and guests will be treated to a free-flowing 5-hour premium open bar. Come witness unforgettable performances from Chris Malinchak, Bobby Nourmand, Eric Sharp, Adam Auburn and Eli Glad b2b Brain Tarney.

INGLEWOODDead and Friends – The Forum
The Dead have a very long New Year’s Eve tradition, playing numerous concerts at San Francisco’s Winterland, with the help of friend and promoter Bill Graham, and many other venues in the years since. This year they are playing two dates at the Fabulous Forum, December 30th and 31st. The shows have been very well reviewedsince kicking off in Albany, NY in October, with particular praise attended to John Mayer, who joins guests Otel Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti along with original members Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart and Bob Weir. The 31st is supposed to be their last show, but we wouldn’t bet on it, as the Dead’s long goodbye is beginning to resemble Barbra Streisand’s. It’s not like they need the money, but hey, it’s good news for their legions of forever fans; we’re Deadheads, and some of us have followed and even written about them since college.

LONG BEACHNYE Block Party with Saint Motel, ZZ Ward, Houndmouth & more – Pine Avenue
Following last year’s record-breaking New Year’s Eve celebration, when 13,500 people descended upon Downtown Long Beach to ring in the new year, the Downtown Long Beach Associates will continue to host the largest party in town as it welcomes a plethora of SoCal’s finest musicians to take part in a three-stage, three-block festival in the heart of Downtown. DLBA has again teamed with the Knitting Factory Entertainment, partner and talent booker for New Year’s Eve, to establish an exciting line-up for the night.

NORTH HOLLYWOODSnapback NYE – The Federal Bar
Ring in the New Year with cocktails and dancing! Executive Chef Grant Wagemaker has created a special New Year’s Eve menu with items including chilled Santa Barbara spot prawns, roasted prime rib, cioppino and fava bean agnolotti. In the upstairs club, enjoy an exciting night of hip-hop and R&B via Snapback DJs Stubbs and Remark.

SANTA MONICANew Year’s Eve Party – The Room
Ring in the New Year with fun music, cocktails and dancing at The Room Santa Monica, featuring music by DJ Jolyon. Inspired by its successful namesake in Hollywood, The Room Santa Monica is a low-key bar and lounge, featuring classic libations in a swanky setting. It offers a sophisticated yet unpretentious vibe, attracting a genuine crowd of music lovers and stylish people who enjoy stiff and equally stylish drinks.

SILVERLAKEThe Rapture – The Satellite
Rapture, a celebration of the greatest pop music of the 80s and 90s, will be taking over Silver Lake’s Satellite. From New Order to Britney Spears and Billy Idol to TLC, Rapture has got you covered. Party like 1999 never left the building!

WEST HOLLYWOODGiorgi’s 2nd Annual Black and White Masquerade Ball – The Standard
Producer Bryan Rabin and DJ Adam Bravin are ringing in 2016 with a special New Year’s Eve edition of Giorgio’s, a modern discotheque. Giorgio’s, named after the legendary Oscar and Grammy award winning producer Giorgio Moroder, is one of the most exclusive and sexiest nightclubs in the country and brings out the who’s who of fashion, music, lifestyle, it-girls, drag queens, celebutantes and debutantes. DJ Adam XII has created one of the most exciting dance floors in years, spinning all classic disco with a modern point of view. Giorgio’s is pleased to welcome back legendary Downtown NYC performance artist Joey Arias. Since 1979, Joey has been wowing audiences with his pitch perfect performances of classic jazz and blues as well as his surprising and genre-bending cabaret shows. Fresh off the road from a European tour, Joey enters the magical and intoxicating Giorgio’s with fresh material and a show to remember.

Best NYE Concerts in the Rest of the World

For those of you who won’t be ringing in the New Year in Los Angeles, here’s our selection of the best concerts happening in the rest of the world!

That’s it for this week. We’re writing you because you’ve expressed interest in Knitting factory shows, artists or productions. Like us? Want us to consider covering your artists or shows? Please tell us, your humble writer/editors: Henry Eshelman heshelman@platformgrp.com, Sabrina Zeile sabrina@platformgrp.com and Saeli Eshelman saeli@platformgrp.com; we can take it from there.